As an ex military spouse this has hit a nerve with me. For one thing, why is it now easier for military spouses to have a career and their own pension?

The average military family moves every 2 to 2 and 1/2 years. If you are the wife/husband of a military member it is impossible to build a career if you have to be uprooted that often from a job. Not unless you can find a company to work with who will transfer you every time your spouse has to PCS. Good luck with that!

We are in the middle of a war. Have been in the middle of some kind of conflict since the early 90s. Military personnel are away from home a hell of a lot more than they were when the bill was first passed. That means military spouses are left alone to raise children and take care of business on their own for long periods of time. That alone can make it hard to have a career of your own.

Being a military spouse is a job in and of itself. You are expected to belong to organizations that will help further your spouse's caree. You are expected to entertain and are constantly going to functions that are required. The difference between a military spouse and a civilian spouse is like night and day.

Why should a military spouse of 15 years only draw part of a pension that she/he also worked to build up?

The only thing that courts can order a military member to pay before they retire is alimony. Retirement pay comes from military finance and no one, not the member or an ex-spouse gets any of it until after retirement.

It isn't the courts that force military members to retire. It is the military. My ex was forced out. If the military hadn't forced him out he would have stayed in until they carried him out of his office toes first. You have to get rid of the old to make way for the new. It isn't the militaries job to hold onto personnel just because they want to stay in and keep their ex-spouse from drawing part of their retirement.

Survivor benefits is only $50,000. You start dividing that up among spouses the way some of these guys marry there won't be much to collect once he is gone.

The purpose of an ex-spouse getting survivor benefits is so that she/he can continue to draw retirement should the military member die. Whether or not a second or third spouse can draw part of the member's retirement has nothing to do with survivor benefits.

What is happening is that the second wife/husband gets pissed because the first wife or husband...the dumpees will get all the survivor benefits. What isn't mentioned is the fact that most ex military spouses are still raising children and the ones who will benefit most from that money would be the military member's children, not the ex-spouse.

Military personnel don't make a lot of money. The majority of them do jobs for the military that would pay quite a bit more in the civilian sector. These men and women aren't building HUGE military retirements. Even if they do 20 years there is no "windfall" to be had when the ex-spouse does start drawing military retirement.

I have a friend who was married to a military member for 18 years. A high ranking officer. She got 43% of his retirement. According the the formula that is used she got 43% of the retirement he earned during their marriage. She ended up getting $1,234.00 a month of his $3,800 a month retirement.

In my opinion $1,200 a month is not much return on 18 years of following a military member around so they can have a career. These guys can complain all they want. They have been trying for years to get the USFSPA abolished. It will never happen because those who make the laws know the truth behind military retirement and how little a military spouse does end up getting.